Computer Ideas

[Shaun.P]

I currently use a MacBook Pro as my main machine. This is currently the only computer I have.

I like to download a lot of torrents, and it annoys me having to do this on my main machine for numerous reasons. I have thought about the possibility of buying a desktop machine for downloading torrents (and perhaps some word processing).

I'm looking for something that is:

Cheap,
Low power usage,
Relatively compact,
Quiet,
Wireless (to connect to Airport Express).

I have thought about an Eee Box and Mac Mini, but both would be too expensive. I also thought about a G3 iMac, but the ones I see on eBay always have tiny harddrives, however I'm not too sure about the power usage.

I've started thinking that the best thing to do would be to build something with a Celeron or Via processor, and stick a 1TB harddrive in it. But I don't know if this would be sensible.

Does anyone have any ideas? Power usage is important as it'll probably be rarely switched off, and my parents moan about such things.

 

[Jonnyfive]

A g4 imac might be a nice option, it's compact with screen and all.

You could always put a larger hard drive in a G3, that shouldn't be an issue.
I find g3's run really nice once you put in a 72000 rpm hard drive.

 

[Shaun.P]

Some G4's are in my price range, especially the iMac, and it looks good. But it uses a G4 processor, which are regarded generally speaking as using a lot of power?

I should mention, Mac or Windows would suit me - as long as my MBP could connect to it to retrieve files.

 

[costabunny]

if u dont mind having a grey box pc then go get the cheapest dell you can - whatever its spec it will be perfect for those tasks.



(I have an old dell in the corner for torrents etc)

 

[Shaun.P]

Nope I don't mind.

This seems to be incredibly cheap:

http://configure.euro.dell.com/dell...l=en&m_30=138820&oc=D102012&rbc=D102012&s=bsd

 

[dnguyen]

what about a netbook?

 

[cherry su]

Build an Atom box

http://www.mini-box.com/Intel-D945G...3eSc38TaNqNe34Pa38Ta38Sbxv0?sc=8&category=100

 

[LDB]

A g4 imac might be a nice option, it's compact with screen and all.

You could always put a larger hard drive in a G3, that shouldn't be an issue.
I find g3's run really nice once you put in a 72000 rpm hard drive.

I bet anything would run pretty well with a seventy two thousand rpm hard drive.

 

[theMaccer]

I bet anything would run pretty well with a seventy two thousand rpm hard drive.

lol. Maybe u will have to need a gasoline engine to run the drive.

 

[Chris Rogers]

i use my old vaio from 3,147,428,579 years ago for the same thing. Then I place them on an external hard drive wirelessly. Works great. I think you just need something that can connect to the internet via wifi (your preference) Maybe just check out craigslist.